He'll Come Home
by Moonwalking-Greaser
Summary: Ponyboy reminisces about Sodapop while he's in Vietnam. SHORT ONE-SHOT.


**There might be some grammatical errors in this so I do apologize. This idea came to me last night so I hope you enjoy! I don't own The Outsiders, the fabulous and Queen SE Hinton does.**

Ponyboy suddenly awoke from his sleep. He didn't know what woke him up but he knew for sure that he couldn't sleep anymore. Rubbing his eyes, he quietly got out of bed and went to the worn out calender that was hanging across the room, right above his desk. He drew an x on today's date.

So far, it's been 72 days since Sodapop has been gone. And yet, he still felt empty as ever. Putting the worn out marker back down on his desk, Ponyboy quickly put on his faded jeans and a plain black shirt. As he was buttoning his jeans, Pony got a quick glance at Soda's DX uniform that was folded neatly in the closet.

He bit his lip as his stomach sank. He couldn't stand being in this room sometimes. Memories of Soda would just flood to him out of nowhere and he'd break down and cry. He'd remember everything— the talks Soda would give him about girls or horses, the deep and infectious laugh Soda did when Pony thought Darry's angry face looked like King Kong's and the secrets they both shared to each other.

Sodapop wasn't just a brother to Ponyboy. He was his best friend.

Sighing, Ponyboy went towards the bed and quickly made it, fluffing both his and Soda's pillows. There had been nights where Pony would wake up from a nightmare and instinctively, he'd reach for Soda's side, expecting to find him there. But the only thing he'd feel was the coolness of the pillow.

He missed Soda more than anything but life went on. Just like when Johnny and Dallas died. You don't stop living because you lose somebody, Darry had said.

But how could you live when your brother was fighting a war and could die any second?

He had hope in Sodapop though. Soda was strong. He could come back home.

Or he could die instantly, Ponyboy thought darkly. Doubts always flooded his mind but he'd try to snap out of it. Soda is strong, he'd repeat to himself. He can get out. He _will_ get out, he'd chant that in his head over and over again until it would calm him down. He had faith in Sodapop to come home. All he had to do was wait.

And in Ponyboy's mind, waiting was the worst.

Going into the quiet kitchen, Ponyboy took a bowl out from the cabinet and some milk. He was surprised Darry wasn't up yet, but he had worked until 11 last night, so he understood why he had to sleep in.

Pouring cereal and then the milk inside the bowl, Ponyboy thought about how Darry was handling this.

Darry wasn't an emotional person. When they were younger, Ponyboy remembered Darry crying only once. It had been a championship game of football and Darry had missed a touchdown in the final seconds of the game and his team had lost. Darry was only seventeen then but when he came back from the game, he couldn't stop sobbing. Their father was the only one that could calm him down that night.

However other than that, Ponyboy had never seen Darry cry again. A couple days ago when he had passed Darry's room, he could've sworn he could hear him crying in there but when he came out, he looked fine.

Darry wasn't fine though. Sodapop was someone he was extremely close to. He had some effect on Darry and could make him calm down in a way nobody understood. Being only three years apart from each other, Darry and Soda were very close. They had their differences sure, but despite that, they relied on each other a lot— especially after their parents died.

While chewing the last bit of his cereal, he put the dishes in the sink and quickly rinsed it off before Darry would get on his back about it. He headed into the quiet living room and turned the tv on. He couldn't stand the quiet. He was used to the house being loud because of the gang but lately, ever since Sodapop left, Two-Bit and Steve would rarely come over.

When the day came for Sodapop to leave, Two-Bit was a blubbering mess. Despite his jokester demeanor, he was highly sensitive. The first couple weeks of Sodapop's absence, Two-Bit would be at the house almost everyday, watching Mickey and trying to make the best of the situation. But the spark had dulled in his eyes. Eventually he started coming over less and less and in time he had found himself a job at Buck's. He was getting drunk more quicker and getting into fights more often.

But nobody blamed him.

Then there's Steve. Sodapop's best friend. Out of everyone, Steve took Soda's leaving the hardest. Steve was always the first one to know things about Sodapop. He was the first to know about their parents crash, he was the first to know about Sandy, but yet when Sodapop got his draft notice, Steve was the last person he told.

Not on purpose though. He saved him for last because he didn't know how to tell his best friend. When Soda finally did tell Steve, he had disappeared for three days without a trace. Two-Bit tried looking for him, as did Darry but eventually one night, Steve came back in the house with a bloody lip and bruised ribs. Sodapop took it upon himself to clean Steve up and for the rest of the night, they both sat on the back porch talking.

When Sodapop left for Vietnam, Steve was determined to sign up for the war but it took Darry and Two-Bit a lot of time and convincing that it was a dumb idea to do. Steve eventually didn't sign up, but he was never at the Curtis house anymore. Darry and Pony didn't know where he was and neither did Two-Bit.

The gang, if you could even call it that anymore, had fallen completely apart.

Ponyboy snapped out of his daze as he heard Darry's footsteps coming into the living room. He watched as he got his tool belt from the table and buckled it on. It looked like he was up for awhile, since his face showed no traces of sleep. He worked 12 hour shifts now and never once did Pony hear him complain about it. Pony did feel guilty that he had to work those extra hours to make ends meet, but Darry wanted and insisted Pony to focus on his school work instead of getting a job.

That's the least thing Ponyboy could do for him. And for Sodapop.

Ponyboy studied his eldest brother. He had dark circles under his eyes and he had gotten extremely darker from the hot sun. Yet his young face still had a set of hope to it. Faith.

Darry caught Ponyboy staring at him and raised his eyebrow. "Take a photo, it'll last longer." he teased. Ponyboy shook out of his gaze as he gave him a sheepish smile.

"Sorry." he said. Now Darry studied his younger brother who looked much older than fourteen. He knew Soda not being here was hard on him, yet despite the situation, he was determined to carry on with life here in Tulsa.

"You going to finish your math homework today?" Darry asked him. "It's due in two days kid."

Pony nodded. "Yea, I'll do it Dar."

"I'll check it when I get home from work." Darry promised as he headed towards the door. He hated leaving Ponyboy on his lonesome, but his brother wasn't the small fourteen year old he knew months ago. He was stronger. He was independent.

"Yea, okay." Pony replied distractedly. Darry knew he was thinking about Sodapop.

"And Pone?" Darry suddenly said from the door before he left. Ponyboy looked up.

"He'll come home." Darry said in determination. Ponyboy gave a small smile and nodded.

"He'll come home." he repeated.

 **END**

 **And that's it! Hope you enjoyed it. It probably seemed a little rushed so I do apologize for that. Still debating on if I should continue Trapped or if I should just rewrite it all together. If you have read Trapped, what do you think? Also quick shout out to Michelle Loves Chocolate 99 for being great and for letting me rant to you. Check out her Outsiders stories guys, they're great. Thanks for reading!**


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